Bakhchisaray, Crimea.

This is where I spent my 21st Birthday. Bakhchisaray is the historical centre for the Crimean Tartars - a society that had been expelled by Stalin in the 'Great Purge' but have been since allowed to return from central Asia to the Crimea.

The marshrukta ride from Yalta to here was ridiculously hot. There were no seats left for me so I had to sit up in the front next to the driver. I was surrounded by glass and avoided by breeze. It was 34 degrees outside. It felt like I was in a glass bubble orbiting the sun.

Their culture is hugely different to the rest of Ukraine's. The people look different, for a start, and their language is Turkic. Bakhchisaray is one of the rare areas in Ukraine where you can find mosques and hear the call to prayer. Middle Eastern style hospitality shone through, too. I saw a waitress smile for the first time in 2 weeks...

Bakhchisaray turned out to be a little gem. A little change of pace and scenery. We succeeded in some touristy things: visiting a VI century cave city (a bit like a scaled down Cappadocia) and cave monastery.

We had shashlyk (skewer kebab) for a birthday dinner, but has a hairy run in with money, though, when we realised that there was no ATM in the town... Fortunately Fi had the exact amount we needed to pay the hotel.